August 29, 2007

This is my favorite new commercial on Italian radio (click the link to play in a new window, or use the embedded audio to the right). It's for a store called Rocco Giocattoli, which is kind of like Toys-R-Us, and is hawking lots of fab back-to-school merch like notebooks (quaderni) and backpacks (zaine, not to be confused with zingari, which are gypsies, or zanzare, which are mosquitoes) starting at 9.90E. My favorite parts are:

His enthusiasm for and pronunciation of the English phrases back-to-school, Power Rangers, and Spiderman Tre.

The random inclusion into an already loud and hyper commercial of kids who shout, "Yay, we're going back to school!"

The ridiculously over-emphasized rolled R in the name of the store.

I think the reason I like this commercial so much is because in 20 seconds it thoroughly confirms the stereotype of Italians as loud, excitable, and completely obsessed with American cultural products. Also, it reminds me of this SNL sketch mocking Italians, which is probably my favorite SNL sketch of all time because it is completely and utterly true.

is a bioarchaeologist and assistant professor at the University of West Florida. This is her personal blog about archaeology, bioanthropology, and the classical world. Follow her on Twitter (@DrKillgrove) or G+, or follow PbO on Facebook.